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Castro's roll nets AL Player of Week Award

Backstop first Astros player to claim honor since Pence in 2010

Jason Castro talks about being the first Astros player in club history to earn American League Player of the Week honors

By Joey Nowak
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MLB.com |

Astros catcher Jason Castro was named the American League Player of the Week (May 20-26) on Tuesday, becoming the first Houston player to earn the weekly recognition in over two years.

"It's pretty cool," Castro said following Tuesday's 2-1 loss to the Rockies. "It's our first year [in the AL], and hopefully I'll be the first of many Astros to win an award this year and years to come."

Castro hit .579 (11-for-19) last week, with one double, three home runs, five RBIs and five runs scored in six games to claim his first career weekly honor. He's the first Astros player to earn the honor since Hunter Pence won it for the week ending Sept. 5, 2010.

Castro led the Majors in average, slugging percentage (1.105) and on-base percentage (.636) over the seven-day stretch. He was also tied for fourth in homers and tied for fifth in total bases (21).

"It's a great honor," he said. "I'm humbled and really appreciative of receiving the award. It's exciting. I'm very grateful for the opportunities I've been given here."

In Houston's 3-1 win over the Royals on Wednesday, Castro went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored while also throwing out two runners on the basepaths. He hit two more home runs on Saturday in the Astros' 11-5 loss to the A's.

Castro and teammate Matt Dominguez each hit a pair of homers in that game, becoming the first pair of Astros to hit multiple long balls in the same game since Lance Berkman and Craig Biggio on July 25, 2005.

Castro has six homers this season, equaling his 2012 total and matching his career high. With a four-hit effort on Sunday against the A's, Castro became the first Astros player with at least three hits in three straight games since Ty Wigginton did so from Aug. 15-17, 2008.

Joey Nowak is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @joeynowak.‬ Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart contributed to this report. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.